India receives $386 billion to expand renewable energy by 2030
Pralhad Joshi, the minister for renewable energy, said that India has received 386 billion dollars in commitments from financial institutions and banks to expand its renewables capability by 2030.
Joshi, during the annual Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo held in Gujarat State, said: "We have received overwhelming commitments from States and Union Territories and from developers and manufacturers to support our goal 500 GW by 2020".
India increased its renewable energy capacity by 18 GW in fiscal 2024 compared to 15.3 GW a year ago, bringing the total capacity of renewable energy up to 153 GW.
India generates over 77% of its electricity from fossil fuels.
The minister stated that power developers and manufacturers have both committed to setting up additional capacity of 570 GW for electricity generation. Manufacturers have committed additional manufacturing capabilities of 340 GW solar modules and 240GW solar cells.
Analysts predict that India's renewable power capacity will likely increase to 25 GW by 2024-25, from more than 18GW for the previous period.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, India's electricity production increased by an average of 8% per year due to heatwaves and a growing economy.
India's power production from coal is expected to increase by 8.9% between 2024-25 due to an increasing demand for power. This growth will outpace the 8.2% projected growth in renewable energy, including solar, wind, micro hydro plants, and biomass power. Reporting by Sethuraman N.R. and Yagnoseni D. Das in Bengaluru, editing by Sonia Cheema
(source: Reuters)
